Latest news with #CoxMediaGroup
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
WATCH LIVE: Jacksonville Sharks play Fishers Freight at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena
The Jacksonville Sharks (4-2) take on Fishers Freight (2-4) on Saturday night for a key Eastern Conference matchup at home. Kickoff is set for 7:05 p.m. EST at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. Jacksonville is looking to continue the momentum after a win over the Iowa Barnstormers last week. Advertisement The Sharks are in the middle of the pack record-wise in the Indoor Football League's Eastern Conference. A win over the Freight would help move the Sharks up in the conference. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] You can watch the game on the Action Sports Jax 24/7 stream. It's part of the partnership between the Jacksonville Sharks and Cox Media Group's streaming network partnership for the 15th season of Sharks football in Jacksonville. The partnership will feature all home games airing live on the Action Sports Jax 24/7 Network and the weekly airing of Shark Bites on the network. Advertisement [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action Sports Jax 24/7 live.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump administration backs off from 100% withholding on Social Security clawbacks
The Social Security Administration is backing off a plan it announced in March to withhold 100% of many beneficiaries' monthly payments to claw back money the government had allegedly overpaid them. Instead, the agency will default to withholding 50% of old-age, survivors, and disability insurance benefits, the agency said in an 'emergency message' to staff dated April 25. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Trump administration reverses policy, allows full Social Security overpayment clawbacks The agency long made it a routine to halt benefits to recoup billions of dollars it sent recipients but later said they should not have received. A policy under the Joe Biden administration to provide relief to beneficiaries, who often live on the fringe of poverty, last year had capped the clawbacks at 10%. The partial reversal is another twist in the Trump administration's tumultuous approach to Social Security, which has included staff cuts and the acting commissioner's threat, which has since been withdrawn, to essentially shut down the agency. The emergency message involves the agency's practice of paying beneficiaries money they were not supposed to receive — and then, often after years have passed and the amounts have ballooned to tens of thousands of dollars or more per person — demanding the money back, even if the overpayment was Social Security's fault. In many cases, recovering the money had entailed withholding 100% of monthly benefits. Millions of beneficiaries, including people struggling to get by on monthly checks, have received overpayment notices, a 2023 investigation by KFF Health News and Cox Media Group found. Clawbacks have left some homeless, the news organizations reported. In the aftermath of that reporting, Martin O'Malley, tapped by President Joe Biden in 2023 to head the agency, sought to end what he described as 'grave injustices' that left people 'in dire financial straits.' In March 2024, O'Malley said the agency would stop 'that clawback cruelty' of intercepting 100% of a beneficiary's monthly check if they fail to respond to a demand for repayment. Instead, the agency would default to withholding 10% of the recipient's monthly benefits, he said. A year later, the Trump administration reversed that policy change, returning to 100% withholding for new overpayments. 'It is our duty to revise the overpayment repayment policy back to full withholding, as it was during the Obama administration and first Trump administration, to properly safeguard taxpayer funds,' acting Commissioner Lee Dudek said in a March news release. Now, in a pattern that has played out on multiple fronts during the first 100 days of President Donald Trump's second term, the administration is partly reversing the reversal. This time, it issued no news release. 'I think that we had the policy right before,' O'Malley said in an interview April 28. 'We looked at the various break points, and if you would depend entirely on your Social Security check, having half of it interrupted means what? That means you go without paying your heating bill for the month; that means you'd go without your medicine instead of buying medicine and food.' 'So it was a cruelhearted policy before,' he added. At 50%, 'it's half as cruel, but it's still cruel.' Withholding even 50% of monthly benefits will 'cause hardship for many older and disabled people,' said Kathleen Romig, who worked at the Social Security Administration under O'Malley and is now director of Social Security and disability policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. 'Going without half a Social Security check would make it harder for many people to afford basic needs like housing, food, and health care,' Romig said. The SSA press office did not respond to questions for this article. The emergency message to SSA staff said the new policy applies to overpayment notices sent on or after April 25. In one place, the message said the new withholding rate will be 'up to 50 percent.' If the recipient does not request a lower rate of withholding, reconsideration, or a waiver — and 'if there is no fraud or similar fault' — the agency will begin cutting their benefit payment after about 90 days, it said. That does not apply to withholding of benefits in the Supplemental Security Income program, which serves people who have disabilities and older adults who have little or no income or resources, as the SSA explains. The agency said in March that withholding of SSI benefits would remain capped at 10%. Kate Lang, director of federal income security at the advocacy group Justice in Aging, welcomed the shift from 100% withholding but said she was disappointed the agency didn't revert to 10%. Lang called the agency's conduct 'chaotic and confusing.' ALSO READ: The Social Security data breach compromised 'billions' of accounts. Here's how to protect yourself. 'It creates more work for SSA — more people calling with questions, more errors being made that need to be corrected, more confusion and uncertainty about what is going on,' Lang said. 'It's a nightmare,' O'Malley said, 'for not only the staff to have all of the switcheroo on policy, but also for the beneficiaries.' KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism. VIDEO: Trump administration reverses policy, allows full Social Security overpayment clawbacks
Business Journals
24-04-2025
- Business
- Business Journals
Franklin approves development agreement with Modula for $24M expansion
A Warren county city has entered into a development agreement with a prominent Italian firm seeking a grand $20M-plus expansion south of Dayton. A Warren county city has entered into a development agreement with a prominent Italian firm seeking a grand $20M-plus expansion south of Dayton. Modula Inc. — located at 5000 Commerce Center Drive at the former print technology center operated by Cox Media Group Ohio — aims to construct a 180,000 square foot building addition to its facility. The purpose of the building addition is to consolidate its off-site warehouse and distribution operations which are currently located in a leased facility outside of the area. Immobiltec USA is the property owner and Modula is the business owner of the plant on the 57-acre site. The $24 million project will create 60 full-time positions upon completion in 2028, according to city documents. The expansion first went before the city of Franklin's planning commission and board of zoning appeals last October, and is now featured once again on the most recent city council docket. The project site is located within the city's Community Reinvestment Area. The developer has applied for a tax abatement on the increase of assessed value for the construction of the new structure for 15 years, in accordance with the CRA. 'We are excited about the expansion of Modula in the City of Franklin,' previously said Mayor Brent Centers. 'As Franklin continues to grow and transform, businesses like Modula are a critical component to our success. We look forward to additional exciting announcements of growth efforts in Warren County." expand Brent Centers is the Mayor of Franklin. City of Franklin Dayton-based Miller Valentine Commercial Construction, along with LJB Engineering, were cited on Modula's application. In 2019, Modula announced 100 jobs would be coming to Franklin. This was, and remains, Modula's second U.S. location. Headquartered in Italy with operations internationally, Modula manufactures automated storage and retrieval systems. The company initially invested $26.5 million to create its manufacturing and logistics hub in Franklin. Modula services over 30,000 customers worldwide and employs more than 1,500 people and produces 5,000 machines worldwide annually. The firm was launched in 1987 and has invested over $100M in manufacturing since 2014.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Social Security change coming this week: Agency begins taking back 100% of overpayments
A new Social Security rule goes into effect this week. No, not the change that may require you to go to a Social Security Administration office in person to enroll in benefits. That one kicks in later this month. But starting on Thursday, March 27, the SSA will reverse its policy involving overpayments to recipients. Sometimes Social Security, which pays benefits to about 70 million people monthly, totaling about $1.6 trillion in 2025, pays a beneficiary more money than they should have gotten. An overpayment can happen when a beneficiary fails to update a change in income, for instance. Or the SSA can incorrectly calculate benefits. In an August 2024 report, the Social Security Administration's Office of the Inspector General estimated the agency made nearly $72 billion in improper payments – mainly overpayments – during fiscal years 2015-2022. That accounted for less than 1% of all benefits paid during that period, but as of September 2023, the agency had $23 billion in uncollected overpayments, according to the report. The economy: A recession may be coming. It's not too late to prepare. For any Social Security overpayments that occur after March 27, 2025, the recipient's future benefits will be withheld until the overpayment is reimbursed. For those beneficiaries currently reimbursing an overpayment, the withholding rate will not change, the agency said. The withholding rate for overpayments of Supplemental Security Income benefits will remain at 10%. Last year, the SSA had opted to begin withholding only 10% of a recipient's benefits to recoup overpayments as a way of "significantly reducing financial hardship on people with overpayments," the agency said at the time. The move came after Social Security faced negative media coverage in 2023 from KFF Health News and Cox Media Group Television Stations, as well as "60 Minutes" about how the agency went about collecting overpayments, some of which happened more than a decade ago. Some beneficiaries lost their homes as benefits were cut off to make up an overpayment. "Innocent people can be badly hurt," then-Social Security chief Martin O'Malley said, according to the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network. The Social Security Administration sought to reclaim overpayments from about 2 million people in the fiscal year that ended September 2023, according to KFF and Cox Media Group, which acquired information about SSA overpayments in a Freedom of Information Act request. Moving forward, any beneficiary found to have been overpaid will "automatically be placed in full recovery at a rate of 100% of the Social Security payment," the SSA says. That means benefits will be docked until the overpayment amount is met. "If someone cannot afford full recovery of their overpayment, they can contact Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 or their local office to request a lower rate of recovery," the agency said in the notice. The SSA says it will wait at least 30 days (plus five mail days) from the date it has sent an overpayment notice before starting to collect the overpayment. You can repay the overpayment by credit card, online bill pay or check. For more information on repayment of overpaid benefits, visit the SSA website. The SSA can also take money from your federal tax refund or garnish your wages if you were overpaid and are not getting benefits anymore or become delinquent in a repayment agreement, the agency has said. Delinquencies will be reported to credit bureaus. If you are sent an overpayment notice, you can appeal the decision or the amount, the agency says. Beneficiaries can also also ask Social Security to waive collection of the overpayment, if they believe it was not their fault and can't afford to pay it back. Consider it part of the overall plan President Donald Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by Elon Musk, have to reduce federal spending. The Social Security Administration (SSA) has said it plans to cut its workforce by more than 12%, cutting 7,000 employees. These 'significant workforce reductions,' as the SSA described them, along with the closing of some offices could result in people facing a slowdown in the processing of benefits applications and longer waits for help from Social Security personnel. The SSA's switch to withholding up to 100% of a recipient's benefits until it has recovered any overpayments will result in about $7 billion in overpayment recoveries over the next decade, the agency says. 'We have the significant responsibility to be good stewards of the trust funds for the American people,' acting Social Security commissioner Lee Dudek said in a statement. 'It is our duty to revise the overpayment repayment policy back to full withholding, as it was during the Obama administration and first Trump administration, to properly safeguard taxpayer funds.' Social Security: Here's the best age to take it, based on the one variable that really matters There are some steps you can take to avoid an overpayment, according to finance site NerdWallet: Stay up to date: Report your monthly income, marital status and any available resources that may affect the amount of your benefits. You can call the agency to update your information or access your my Social Security account online. Be alert: If your benefit increases and you do not know why, contact the agency. You can also call to ask how your benefits are calculated. "Overpayments happen for several reasons, such as a beneficiary neglecting to update their income, marital status or work situation, or the SSA miscalculating how much it should pay," NerdWallet advises. "Regardless of who is at fault, beneficiaries who receive overpayments from the Social Security Administration usually have to give back the money. Because taxpayer money funds Social Security benefits, the SSA is legally required to recover overpayments." Contributing: Kinsey Crowley, Joey Garrison and Medora Lee, USA TODAY and Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press Follow Mike Snider on Threads, Bluesky and X: mikegsnider & @ & @mikesnider. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Social Security change March 2025: 100% of overpayments to be reclaimed
Bloomberg
21-03-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Apollo Exploring Sale of Cox Media Broadcast TV Stations
Apollo Global Management Inc. is looking to exit the business of broadcast television and radio. The New York-based alternative asset manager has hired Moelis & Co. to help it explore a potential sale of Cox Media Group, including its portfolio of local broadcast television and radio stations from Atlanta to Seattle, according to people familiar with the matter.
